To survive in today’s global market, small farmers must be aware of market trends. Funds will be used by the NC Coalition of Farm & Rural Families to establish a program that will develop Farm Diversity Strategies for former tobacco farmers. The focus of the project will be to assist small, part-time, and minority tobacco growers who are no longer able to sustain their families by growing tobacco and need assistance in identifying alternative enterprises for both on and off the farm income. Objectives for the project are: (1) to create a consortium of farmers from 21 counties to assist with obtaining information and services for making transitions to alternative enterprises; (2) to establish a learning laboratory for value added processing and to demonstrate production techniques; and (3) to strengthen an existing cooperative of minority farmers.
